Maybe he had a headache. Perhaps his feet were killing him. Did he forget to use Preparation H? Whatever it was, Chuck Berry turned in a memorable--but lame--performance last night at BB King’s. Or maybe I just expected too much from this 82-year-old who is largely credited with inventing rock ‘n’ roll. After all, I grew up with his music. He is one of my idols. But after suffering the “hardly waits” for weeks to see this NYC performance, I was disappointed. And so were my three guests—so this is not just me commenting.
OK, our table wasn’t in the best location, but at least it was a curved, cozy, private booth. The four of us got to the club a full hour before showtime, yet already the joint was packed. Silly me, we should have arrived in the middle of the afternoon, I suppose. Our view was partially obstructed by a column, but at least we could get up and see the full stage whenever we wanted to. And there was a large video screen with excellent close-up camera-work of what was going on center-stage. So I really can’t complain about the venue. It was my fault for not getting us there even earlier.
After a so-so warm-up act, Chuck came out to thunderous applause. Hey, this was to be expected, no? The place was filled with Chuck Berry fans! My guess is that the club seated (and stood) about 500 people.
But right after the opening act things quickly deteriorated. I can’t even remember the first song—because it was unintelligible. His guitar was out of tune. Either that, or he was playing in a different key from the rest of his (local and unrehearsed?) band. It was embarrassing. We all looked at each other and said, “What the hell is this?”
So after a minute or two of this atonal mish-mash, the band stops playing and they proceed to tune their instruments--in front of 500 people. Mind-boggling. Chuck tried to make it a joke by saying, “We’ll be ready to start the show in just a couple of minutes, folks.” Not funny. Not at Broadway show prices
I think the next song was “Roll Over, Beethoven,” and it sounded reasonably close to the way we all know it. But for the rest of the hour, there was constant re-tuning and on-stage consulting among the musicians. A couple more songs sounded just flat-out awful. Not a good night for Chuck Berry—or his audience, although my sense is that most of them were forgiving.
I want say one thing about the so-called reviews of BB King’s that I read on the Internet recently. Most of the people panned the place. They complained about the food, they complained about the service, they complained about the prices. This was my first time at BB King’s, and while I don’t have any great desire to return anytime soon, the place is not that bad. It’s largely a tourist place. But it is not a tourist trap, as so many of these rubes suggest. What the hell did they expect? This ain’t the Café Carlyle, folks--not that any of you would know what that is. You don’t order dinner at a place like this. The appetizers and finger foods were as good as any you will find at any typical NYC bar—but at hotel prices. Get over it.
All was not lost, however—at least for me anyway. I did garner a few benefits from watching this show. I’ve been playing the guitar since I was 11 years old—albeit mostly the same three chords. This year, however, I’ve made a real effort to expand my knowledge of music/guitar theory. One of the songs I’ve been working on for the past several weeks is Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.” I’ve almost got the intro down. In two more years I may be able to play the entire song.
So it was, indeed, inspirational for me to watch Chuck Berry as he enters his twilight years. He plays with such relaxed confidence—not like he is killing snakes as so many younger guitarist do.
I can do that. Even I can play out of tune.
OK, our table wasn’t in the best location, but at least it was a curved, cozy, private booth. The four of us got to the club a full hour before showtime, yet already the joint was packed. Silly me, we should have arrived in the middle of the afternoon, I suppose. Our view was partially obstructed by a column, but at least we could get up and see the full stage whenever we wanted to. And there was a large video screen with excellent close-up camera-work of what was going on center-stage. So I really can’t complain about the venue. It was my fault for not getting us there even earlier.
After a so-so warm-up act, Chuck came out to thunderous applause. Hey, this was to be expected, no? The place was filled with Chuck Berry fans! My guess is that the club seated (and stood) about 500 people.
But right after the opening act things quickly deteriorated. I can’t even remember the first song—because it was unintelligible. His guitar was out of tune. Either that, or he was playing in a different key from the rest of his (local and unrehearsed?) band. It was embarrassing. We all looked at each other and said, “What the hell is this?”
So after a minute or two of this atonal mish-mash, the band stops playing and they proceed to tune their instruments--in front of 500 people. Mind-boggling. Chuck tried to make it a joke by saying, “We’ll be ready to start the show in just a couple of minutes, folks.” Not funny. Not at Broadway show prices
I think the next song was “Roll Over, Beethoven,” and it sounded reasonably close to the way we all know it. But for the rest of the hour, there was constant re-tuning and on-stage consulting among the musicians. A couple more songs sounded just flat-out awful. Not a good night for Chuck Berry—or his audience, although my sense is that most of them were forgiving.
I want say one thing about the so-called reviews of BB King’s that I read on the Internet recently. Most of the people panned the place. They complained about the food, they complained about the service, they complained about the prices. This was my first time at BB King’s, and while I don’t have any great desire to return anytime soon, the place is not that bad. It’s largely a tourist place. But it is not a tourist trap, as so many of these rubes suggest. What the hell did they expect? This ain’t the Café Carlyle, folks--not that any of you would know what that is. You don’t order dinner at a place like this. The appetizers and finger foods were as good as any you will find at any typical NYC bar—but at hotel prices. Get over it.
All was not lost, however—at least for me anyway. I did garner a few benefits from watching this show. I’ve been playing the guitar since I was 11 years old—albeit mostly the same three chords. This year, however, I’ve made a real effort to expand my knowledge of music/guitar theory. One of the songs I’ve been working on for the past several weeks is Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.” I’ve almost got the intro down. In two more years I may be able to play the entire song.
So it was, indeed, inspirational for me to watch Chuck Berry as he enters his twilight years. He plays with such relaxed confidence—not like he is killing snakes as so many younger guitarist do.
I can do that. Even I can play out of tune.
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